More repatriation flights for Indian nationals in Oman

Muscat: A total of 11 repatriation flights have been organised for this week to fly home Indian nationals from Oman, the Embassy of India in Muscat has said.
One flight took off on 17 May for Thiruvananthapuram, while nine of the other 10 will depart from Muscat International Airport. The one remaining flight will travel from Salalah to Calicut on 20 May, 2020.
Following the first flight of the week, the second is expected to depart for Hyderabad on Monday, 18 May, 2020. Two flights have been organised for Wednesday, 20 May – one each to Kannur and Bangalore. The flight from Salalah to Calicut will also take off on that day.
The next day, a Muscat-Calicut flight will operate, as will one to Delhi. A second Kannur flight has been pencilled in for the 22nd. Three flights will depart from Oman to final destinations in India. Two of them – Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram – are in Kerala, while the third is Gaya in the Indian state of Bihar.
The repatriation flights to Oman are being organised as part of Vande Bharat, the Indian government’s efforts to bring home Indian nationals who live and work overseas but wish to come home during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
One of the passengers who went back to India on the Thiruvananthapuram flight said he was looking forward to going home, but expects to soon return to Oman.
“I have been working for the last 30 years in the Diwan of Royal Court,” said Xavier, a Keralite passenger, before boarding his flight. “But now I work in the civil section. I have some problem owing to liver cancer. My condition is very bad, so I asked the Indian embassy to help me. They have helped me a lot, they arranged the ticket, and I am proud of the Indian embassy. I am going to Trivandrum for treatment. Thank you very much to all the Indian embassy people.”
The flights to repatriate Indian nationals overseas will be operated by Air India. Naval ships are also being used to bring home Indians from some overseas countries.
“Passenger lists for all the above-mentioned flights will be finalised by the embassy on the basis of information received by the embassy through the form which was disseminated by the embassy on its website and social media,” said the embassy in a statement.
“Priority will be given to medical emergency cases, pregnant women, workers in distress, senior citizens as well as to other Indian nationals who are stranded in difficult situations.
“The embassy will be contacting the short-listed people for each flight directly through email/telephone,” added the statement.
“The embassy will make further announcements relating to additional flights to India as and when these are scheduled.”